Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise!

A/N: Here is the next instalment :) I have tried to put a lot in this chapter so sorry if it reads a little disjointedly, I tend to write different sections and then go back to fill in the gaps between them :S I apologise for any spelling mistakes, my stories aren't beta'd so any mistakes are mine.

Chapter 6

Dis POV

I sighed out as I sat surrounded by the ladies of the court, honestly how they had nothing better to natter on about other than how gorgeous my brothers were and how it was such a shock that my sister spoke, I will never know. I fidgeted and casually pulled out a dagger I was engraving for Ariana, ignoring how the room fell silent. Many who lived within the mountain thought I was more even tempered, more level-headed than my brothers, this wasn't true, I was just as foul tempered on occasion. I however chose to show it differently, by being cunning and shrewd rather than a raging Oliphant in a china shop. I raised an eyebrow at the stares and soon the tittering started up again and I rolled my eyes, Mahal, but I hated these little sessions.

I whipped my head around as the door slammed open and Balin ran into the room, "Princess, have you seen your little sister?" He asked, desperately and I shook my head, standing. "No, why? What has happened?" I demanded and he shook his head darting back out of the door. I picked up the dagger and moved after him, "Balin, tell me what has happened. Where is Ariana?" I snapped out and he slowed slightly. "We have just received a missive stating that the princess is in danger, that the possible kidnappers will be taking her and keeping her until your grandfather gives their leader the throne. Of course they haven't given us the name of the leader." He growled out and I tensed, of course they would take Ariana, up until four days ago she had been the most prized treasure of grandfathers.

I followed him into the throne room to find grandfather tucking the Arkenstone into a cloth and putting his pocket, before turning to face us. "Have we found her?" He asked and I could see that today the gold sickness was lesser, perhaps because of the panic surrounding Ariana's disappearance. Heads were shaken all around, except for Frerin's who seemed to be missing. We were planning a search route when he was dragged in being supported by our cousin, Gloín. "I found him down by the western forges, Oín's seen him and said the wounds are mainly superficial, but there is a possibility of concussion. He may also have a few broken ribs." He told us and looking at Frerin you could see why, his face seemed to be a constant area of bruising with cuts interspersed. He was limping and his free arm was wrapped around his waist.

I moved over and steadied him, helping him sit on the steps to the throne, but his words sent chills through us all. "They took her, almost positive they were Ironfists. They kept muttering on about how you weren't a true king, how you weren't worthy of the position. We were walking down by the forges as Ariana wanted to finish a piece she'd been doing when I got attacked from behind. I tried to keep the attention on me so she could run, but this hulking brute appeared behind her and hoisted her into a sack. I heard her head hit the rock as he swung her around onto his back, I don't think it was deliberate as they all began to call him out on it, saying she was worth more to us alive than not. I think they are hoping the Durin line will step aside for their lordling to rule if they give Ariana back."

I sat down heavily on the steps next to him and we stared over at Dwalin and Thorin, who seemed to be planning something. "They won't be staying in the mountain, we would be well within our rights to destroy them completely if they were. Its likely they'll be near Dale, there's a small outcrop of abandoned houses on the ridge just beyond Ravenhill. That would be the best bet for them to be. I just hope they have as little sense as they seem to, it's daylight hours, anyone could have walked along and seen them do this. Also it gives them less time to get away, I'll have someone go and scout the houses, see if there is anyone in them." Dwalin said, bowing and leaving the room, cracking his knuckles and stroking the handles of his axes, already craving bloodshed and battle.

Grandfather slumped down in his throne. "We cannot go in with a contingent of guards, if they see that then I believe they will kill Ariana. I will go in alone, with you watching. Dis get Oín and ready a cart, if she is hurt I don't want to move her from the place and I want her healed there. Frerin will go with them and pick another guard, Oín will need help to keep anyone away should we miss any." He said and we nodded, I left leaving them to the planning and hoping, praying that we got Ariana back in one piece with no injuries or we would lose grandfather to his sickness. I hurried down to Oín, startling him as I entered. "Lady Dis, what can I do to help?" He asked and I told him what grandfather had said.

He nodded and together we quickly managed to ready a cart full of any supplies that we would need. Oín had placed extra amounts of thread and poppy milk in the cart anticipating the amount of wound Ariana could have. I fidgeted with many of the things we had placed in the cart, wanting to do something with my hands. I paused when Frerin put his hand over mine, "Peace sister, we will find her and we will get her back. If she is even scratched they will die." He said and I nodded, that was all well and good, but we first had to find her. It was then that I noticed the guard stood behind him, "I'm sorry, I afraid I don't know who you are?" I said to him.

He shifted out from behind Frerin and bowed shallowly to me, "My name is Tristahal, my lady. I accompanied you on your trip to Dale when you are your father were attacked. I have grown fond of your sister and when Prince Frerin asked for a volunteer I immediately offered my services." I smiled over at him and nodded, helping Oín wheel the cart out into the entrance of the mountain. Adad stood beside Thorin, Fundin and Dwalin, "My scout should be returning this evening and then we will know for certain where she is. I have arranged for a guard and Dwalin to be present with the cart at all times. We will be ready to go as soon as we have news." Fundin declared and we nodded, moving back into the mountain, although none of us could focus on anything. I quickly packed a pack of clothes for Ariana, she would possibly need clean ones for when we found her and then filled it with the three little eggs that Frerin had gotten her and the blades that had been gifted her, from Dwalin and the elves. For some reason feeling like this was important.

Thorin, Frerin and I all congregated in my chambers and sat in silence, each of us twitching and fidgeting in our own way. "I should have done more. It's my fault they managed to take her." Frerin mumbled out and we turned to stare at him, "Nadadith, don't be stupid. You did everything you could to keep her safe, it's clear that this had far more planning involved than just scaring us with a letter of ransom. They know that grandfather is falling to the sickness, they know that it will not take much to push him over. This is not your fault, Ariana is going to bite you if she hears you say that." Thorin spoke, his Khuzdul rumbling around the room. Even though I had heard many speak it, had grown up speaking it, Thorin's always seemed different, sounded different, less harsh and more like the rumbling of thunder as it echoed around the mountain.

I nodded and curled up beside Frerin. "Thorin is right, regardless of if we had Ariana, they would have tried this, although I think it may have had the opposite effect to what they wanted, I think it may have brought grandfather out of the sickness slightly, at least until we get Ariana back." I murmured out and they nodded. That evening we did something that we had not done in many decades, we all slept piled into the same bed, curled around each other, a hand always on another sibling, making sure we were all still together. It didn't matter that we were all of age, we felt like dwarflings that night, scared of the monsters in the darkness. We only separated briefly the following morning to dress, before having a light breakfast with adad, barely able to stomach anything in our worry, but needing to be strong.

Balin came in just as we were finishing up, "Adad's scout is back, they've found her." He said, voice soft. We all stood and followed him down through the mountain, I kept touching the handle of the short sword I had strapped on this morning, my brothers acknowledging it but saying nothing. "The scout said she is in a small room near the back of the third house from the mountain, she is the only one in the room, but they have not been kind to her. She is bruised and slightly injured, but alive" Fundin spoke and several growls and curses were heard from the assembled guards. It was amazing to see just how loved my sister was within the mountain, I doubted there was a single Longbeard that would harm her.

Tristahal and Oín were waiting by the cart, Oín checking it over before we slowly moved out of the mountain and along the bottom of the walls of the valley, careful to keep out of sight of grandfather, adad, Thorin, Dwalin and Fundin as they rode across the plains towards the houses. I watched as the others slowed and Grandfather continued on alone. It wasn't until he was nearing the house that the other slowly moved forward. We waited two houses down as they entered the house after grandfather, we only moved forward when Ariana's scream pierced our ears and hearts. "Now, she's hurt." Frerin whispered and we all ran towards the house, carefully with the cart.

We had almost reached the front of the house when a dwarf and Dwalin crashed through the old wooden wall, Dwalin's axe quickly beheading him. "Oín hurry, we don't have much time." He bellowed out and we ran inside, I gasped and clutched at Frerin's arm at the sight that greeted us. Ariana was lying on the floor, her head cradled in grandfathers lap as he spoke to her softly in Khuzdul, begging her to keep her eyes open and on him, the pool of blood beneath her growing quickly despite the furs adad and Thorin were pressing to her chest and back.

"Oín, quickly. One of the bastards stabbed her through the chest when I refused to abdicate." Grandfather called out, tears welling in his eyes as I crouched down next to him. Oín quickly busied himself with looking at the wound on her chest. "It goes all the way through yes, but I believe it has missed her heart and lungs, along with her other organs, thankfully. Help me turn her gently and we will look at her spine." He said and had us brace her to turn her over, humming and nodding when he saw that the blade had missed her spine. He then quickly set about sewing up each wound. It felt like days before he had finished and the puddle beneath us had grown considerably. We slowly moved her up onto the cart that the others had padded out with furs and blankets.

Oín turned to us as he finished settling Ariana slightly on her side so there was no pressure on her back wound. "I have done all I can for her, her pulse is faint but strong, she is fighting to stay with us. We need to keep her fighting, until I am happy with how stable she is, she is staying here. I don't want to risk moving her too much. The internal stitching I've done will dissolve into her blood once she has healed, but if we move her now it will split and she will most likely die from blood-loss. The wound on her face is old and scabbed over nicely, I think that was from when she was kidnapped and her face hit the rock. It is slightly infected and I think they have made it worse over the last day than it originally was, so it will scar."

As he spoke Frerin curled up near her head and began to stroke her hair, tears running down his face and I knew he was blaming himself. I moved silently and stood to the side of the cart and began to wash Ariana's hair with the water that her captures had left out, humming a melody that amad used to sing with us. Thorin came and stood next to me, "I'll ride back to the mountain and bring you both some clothes and food for you all. Is there anything you want?" He asked turning to Tristahal and Oín, Oín nodded and requested a change of tunic and some more tonics from the healing rooms, but Tristahal shook his head. Thorin nodded and they all rode out, each member of the family kissing Ariana on the head before leaving.

It was well after dusk by the time Thorin returned, with enough food and water to last us a few days and a bundle of clothes for myself and Frerin to replace the blood covered ones we were in. I smiled as I saw the tunic and breeches he had brought me. "You may have to fight namanith. I would rather you could do it without getting your dress tangled around your knees." He said in jest and Tristahal chuckled slightly, before moving out to check the perimeter around the house. "Nadadugmil?" I said softly and he wrapped his arms around me, "He's gotten so much worse. He rode back in with us, changed his clothes and then went down into the treasury to make sure none of it was missing. It was like he hadn't even spent the morning trying to keep Ariana alive. When I left he was staring up at the Arkenstone and muttering in ancient Khuzdul again, I caught 'precious gem' and 'all I need out' of what he said. I fear we have truly lost him to the sickness now." Thorin murmured out and I flinched, a sob rising in my throat.

Frerin growled from his position by Ariana's head, his hand just in front of her mouth, almost like he was constantly checking she was breathing, "Is that truly how little she means to him, we mean to him now? I hate this curse on our family." He spat out and we moved over to him, mindful of Ariana, hugging him tightly. "I am staying out here for the night on adad's orders, we don't need to have another injured royal. Adad thinks that we have gotten rid of the whole group of them, but another set of eyes overnight doesn't hurt." I nodded and he and Frerin went to talk to Tristahal about a watch system. Oín approached me then, "I am sorry my dear, your grandfather was strong to hold off this long in his life before the sickness took him. Many succumb before they are 200. He could have chosen a better time mind you." I giggled wetly at Oín's joke, knowing that it was either laugh or cry and I felt like there had been enough crying today.

Over the next three days we constantly monitored Ariana, Oín and I sleeping in shifts throughout the day so there was always one person awake with Ariana and Frerin, Tristahal and whoever had come over from the mountain, taking the guard duties. During the day, Dwalin or Thorin would come over with another three guards and insist that Frerin and Tristahal got some sleep, before one of them would stay over night to help with the watch. Adad wanted to come over, but someone had to run the mountain now that grandfather wasn't. It was mid morning, after Dwalin had left early on the fourth day that everything changed for us. We were all sat around the little room the cart sat in, eating a light broth that had been brought across the day before, wondering when the next set of guards were coming over, when the noise outside the house changed.

Tristahal, Frerin and I stood and looked out of the window of the house, curious as to what was happening. The noise was so foreign, almost like the wind had decided that it was suddenly going to become a hurricane. We stared out the window as a huge drake appeared from the north, flying over the little house we were in and heading straight for Dale. Frerin tugged me into his chest and I clutched at his arms as the horns and screams mixed together with the beat of the dragons wings and the crashing of the buildings. It turned once it had destroyed a good portion of Dale and headed straight for the mountain. I whimpered as it sent a burst of fire against the battlements, turning my head into Frerin's chest as I heard the rumble of the front gates being destroyed.

Tristahal fidgeted and I reached out and grasped his hand, his wife and children were in the mountain as well as all our family. Oín appeared behind us and placed an arm around the three of us. "Mahal save us." He whispered and we all watched as dwarves came streaming out of the mountain. "Go, go and find your family. Help who you can. We will be fine." I told Tristahal and he nodded, walking over to Ariana where she lay on the cart and brushed a hand over her head. "Be well Princess, I will see you again." He whispered and then left running down the side of the hill and towards the dwarves and men that streamed away from the desolation the drake had caused.

Ariana whimpered as we slowly wheeled the cart out of the house and when we paused Frerin pointed at something up on the hill behind us. There stood the Elfking and his army, I watched as he studied the desolation before him, before bowing his head and turning away. "He abandoned us." Frerin murmured. "No, he's ancient Frerin. He of all people probably knows the difficulty in killing a drake. Elves don't die often Frerin, he's not going to risk his people on a battle that he will most likely lose." I snapped out and Frerin nodded, "Fair enough he doesn't have to fight the dragon, but he's not even going to help us?" I frowned at Frerins words.

The Elfking had become fond of Ariana and normally sent her a few letters a month, although they were mostly just to test her Sindarin, she said. He hadn't stayed to check she was amongst the living, he hadn't stayed to help any of the men of Dale, who he had far better relations with than us. I frowned, "Elves are strange brother. Come lets get Ariana out of here and find our family." I said and we slowly moved the cart down the hill. Thorin was growling darkly, but his face broke into a relieved smile as he saw us and ran over, part of his left side singed, but whole. Adad and grandfather trailed behind him, with Dwalin, Fundin, Balin, Gloín and his wife behind them. I looked to the side and saw Tristahal walking towards us clutching his children and wife to him.

Thorin scooped me up in a hug before I could say anything, wrapping an arm around Frerin as well. "I thought you had been taken as well when I saw the smoke rising from over here and the dragon flying directly over you." He murmured into the embrace. I shook my head. "We were lucky." I said as I lifted my head and was embraced by adad, "Where do we go now?" Frerin asked and grandfather looked at him, "We will make for the Greenwood and see if we can't get supplies from them, then we will head for Ered Luin. The clans there have long been allies of our line, hopefully we will be welcome there. But before that we need to get through the wood." Grandfather said, his gaze cloudy with gold sickness, but not as it had been.

Thorin came and walked beside the me for a time as adad and grandfather walked ahead of us, talking together wildly, almost to the point of arguing. I looked at Thorin and nodded my head at them and he sighed, "I was the one to pull grandfather out of the mountain. While we were trying to fight the dragon, he was grabbing the Arkenstone and running towards the treasury. He had just made it there when that blasted worm leaped into the gold from above. He tripped and the Arkenstone fell into the hoard. I had to pull him away to get him out of the mountain and even then he was muttering about going back, needing to go back for the fucking rock." Thorin spat out quietly and I stared over at grandfather. The gold sickness was something I truly wished had never touched our family, that many I called kin would choose a rock over flesh and blood made me shudder.

We made our way slowly towards the Greenwood, Ariana becoming increasingly more feverish the further away from the mountain we got. Oín and Balin tried everything they could to lower the fever, but it didn't matter what we did it just seemed to rage hotter. As we neared the Greenwood I prayed to every and any god that Thranduil would put aside past feuds to help my sister, she needed medicines that we just didn't have on us, that he could ignore every slight and just help her. I prayed that his fondness for her would outweigh his dislike for us.

I sat up in the cart and placed cool wet rag after cool wet rag over her forehead, humming softly lullabies that amad used to sing us when we were sick, just trying to comfort her. We all sighed somewhat in relief as the Greenwood came closer, maybe now we could get Ariana the help she had been denied, maybe now we could be assured that she would live. Maybe, just maybe, we all hoped, everything would be right again.

A/N: So I have the plan for the next few chapter already set out:

Chapter 7 - Thrór (He will be explaining himself)

Chapter 8- Ariana :) (Will be meeting a certain thief with two brothers ;) )

Chapter 9 - Third person (all will become clear)

Chapter 10 - Ariana (were harry potter comes into it)

Chapter 11 - Bilbo (The adventures begin!)

I will try and get these finished quickly (7 is nearly there and 9 is finished), but I am meant to be revising for a couple of tests.

Also thank you so much to everyone who is following/favouriting/reviewing my story, you have no idea how much that means to me so thank you :) Much love FD :D